About Bangladesh

Bangladesh - one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia got her independence in 1971 after the 9-month-long Liberation war. Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in raising incomes, reducing poverty and improving social indicators and has been classified as a middle-income country by World Bank. Bangladesh belongs to the largest river delta as well as one of the most fertile regions of the world with a total area of 1,47,570 sq. km. and a coastline of 710 (check) km. It has a population of 166.50 million (Economic Review 2020), making it one of the most densely populated countries of the world. Bangladesh is largely ethnically homogeneous. Over 98 percent of the people speak in Bangla. English is widely spoken as well. The country is covered with a network of rivers and canals forming a maze of interconnecting channels and rich waterways.

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Official Name : The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh
Political system : Parliamentary democracy
Capital name : Dhaka
Time zone : GMT +6 hours
Major cities : Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur
Principal rivers : Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Teesta, Surma and Karnaphuli. (total 310 rivers including tributaries)
Population : 166.5 million (1 July 2019 BBS)
Literacy Rate : 74.4% (2019 BBS)
Religion : Muslims - 90.39%, Hindus - 8.54%, Others -1.07%. (2011 BSS)
Geographical Location : Latitude between 20A°34' and 26A°38' North & Longitude between 88A°01' and 92A°41' Boundaries: North - India (West Bengal and Meghalaya), West - India (West Bengal), East - India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar South-Bay of Bengal.

GEOGRAPHY

Location : Between 200 34' and 260 38' north latitude and between 880 01' and 920 41' east longitude (BIDA)
Area : 56,977 sq miles or 147,570 sq km (BIDA)
Territorial water :12 nautical miles territorial Sea & 200 nautical miles Economic Zone (BIDA)
Main seasons : In Bangladesh, we dont have extreme temperature changes. We have six seasons: Summer, The Rainy season, Autumn, Late Autumn, Winter and The Spring. But we have over 8 different microclimates that combined with fertile grounds, provide the ideal conditions to grow, process, pack and export some of the best exotic fruits, vegetables and crops for the most demanding palates in the food industry.
Principal seasonal crops and fruits : Paddy, jute, wheat, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, vegetables, jackfruit, banana, mango, coconut, pineapple etc.
Natural resources : Natural gas, Lime, Coal, White clay, Granite, Glass sand etc.
Historical Dates : Independence Day - 26th March, Victory Day - 16th December, Language Martyrs Day - 21st February (Also recognized as the International Mother Language Day).

Season Temperature Rainfall Relative humidity
maximum minimum
Pre-monsoon 32.60C 22.40C 453 mm 74%
Monsoon 31.50C 25.50C 1,733 mm 86%
Post-monsoon 30.50C 25.50C 210 mm 80%
Winter 26.50C 13.90C 44 mm 73%
Annual 30.40C 21.20C 203 mm 78%

Climate variations:

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

GDP per capita : $2,227 (at current prices 2020-2021)
GDP growth rate(%) : 5.47 (2020-2021) BSB
International reserves : $44.03 Billion (Feb 2021) BB
Total exports (Provisional) : $45.08 Billion (Goods 38.76 + Services 6.32) FY 2021-22 July
Total imports : $60.68 Billion (FY 2020 - 2021)
FDI Inflows: : $3.38 (Net) Billion (2020)
Principal Crops : Rice, Jute, Fish, Tea, Wheat, Sugarcane, Pulses, Mustard, Potato, Vegetables.
Principal Industries : Garments & Textiles (3rd largest in the world), Ceramics, Cement, Leather, Jute (largest producer in the world), Vegetables, Light Engineering, Rice, Chemical, Fertilizer, Shrimp Processing, Sugar, Paper, Electric and Electronics, ICT, Medicine, Fish, Tea.
Principal Exports : Garments, Knitwear, Frozen Shrimps, Tea, Leather and Leather products, Jute and Jute products, Ceramics, IT Outsourcing, etc.
Principal Imports : Wheat, Fertilizer, Petroleum goods, Cotton, Edible Oil etc.
Currency :Taka (BDT, Symbol = ৳) 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 in notes

Source: Bangladesh Economic Review-2020, Ministry of Finance, Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Bank

Transportation Network

The Government of Bangladesh has given utmost priority to improve the connectivity across the country with a view to easing the doing business in the country. Keeping this view in mind government has taken numerous mega projects. The most economically significant is the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge. This will be the largest bridge in Bangladesh that extends to nearly 7 kilometres and will connect northern and southern Bangladesh.

With this project, Bangladesh has shown the world the degree of self-reliance it can afford and its capability to launch mega economic projects without any support from abroad.

The Padma Bridge is estimated to increase the GDP by more than 1%. It will benefit about 30 million people across 21 south-western districts of Bangladesh.

The transport system of Bangladesh consists mainly of three modes. As the country is a flat plain, all three modes are of surface transport, i.e. roads, railways and inland waterways which are widely used in carrying both passengers and cargoes. Besides, operations of two seaports, maritime shipping and civil aviation catering for both domestic and international traffic are extensive and effective.

Utilities Infrastructure:

We’ve committed and devoted resources of sustainable utilities infrastructure that goes from having powerful, reliable and extensive energy supply network (both from traditional and renewable sources of energies such as geothermal, bio-gas, solar panel etc.) to promoting the establishment of strategically located industrial parks and business centres.

Communication:

In the last decade Bangladesh with its sustained economic growth, has managed to continue growth in overall communication sector. About half of the total population use internet. Bangladesh has experienced a surprising growth in mobile phone subscriptions which is about 170.41 million as of end of June 2021. The total number of internet subscribers have reached 120.96 million at the end of June 2021. The urban and rural area are well connected due to the phenomenal initiative of the digital friendly government.

Bangladesh, at present, has a strong communication network comprising significant number of satellite TV channels, TV stations, Radio stations, Daily newspapers and Relay stations. Recently Bangladesh has successfully launched its first communication satellite named as Bangabandhu Satellite-1 into the orbital space. That Bangabandhu Satellite-1 has boosted up the whole communication system of Bangladesh.


Transportation Infrastructure Overview:

Bangladesh is bringing about major improvements to the country’s infrastructure, highways, airport, seaport and telecom etc.to facilitate the foreign investors. The infrastructure of the investment friendly country is furnished below:

Sl.No. Infrastructure Name
01. Seaports Chittagong, Mongla and Patuakhali (03)
02. Inland river ports Dhaka, Chandpur, Barisal, Khulna, Baghabari, Sharishabari, Narayanganj, Bhairab Bazar, Ashuganj (09)
03. International airports Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. (03)
04. Domestic airports Chittagong, Jessore, Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, Syedpur, Rajshahi and Barisal (07)
05. Landport Benapole, Teknaf, Banglabandha, Sonamasjid, Hilli, Darshana, Birol, Burimari, Tamabil, Haluaghat, Akhaura, Bibirbazar and Bhomra (13)

Transportation Infrastructure Overview:

Bangladesh is bringing about major improvements to the country’s infrastructure, highways, airport, seaport and telecom etc.to facilitate the foreign investors. The infrastructure of the investment friendly country is furnished below:

Sl.No. Infrastructure Name
01. Seaports Chittagong, Mongla and Patuakhali (03)
02. Inland river ports Dhaka, Chandpur, Barisal, Khulna, Baghabari, Sharishabari, Narayanganj, Bhairab Bazar, Ashuganj (09)
03. International airports Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. (03)
04. Domestic airports Chittagong, Jessore, Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, Syedpur, Rajshahi and Barisal (07)
05. Landport Benapole, Teknaf, Banglabandha, Sonamasjid, Hilli, Darshana, Birol, Burimari, Tamabil, Haluaghat, Akhaura, Bibirbazar and Bhomra (13)

ROAD:

In Bangladesh, among the various modes of transport road transport system has been playing a significant role in transporting passengers and goods. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) manage several categories of road.

RHD has total length of 20,948 Km Road under its control which connectsthe every corner of the country.

AIR:

There are now 13 operational airports and Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) ports in Bangladesh. These are Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong, Comilla, Cox’s Bazar, Ishurdi, Jessore, Rajshahi, Syedpur, Sylhet and Thakurgaon. Of these, the airports at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet serve international routes. Air cargo and STOL services have been handed over to the private sector by the government.Bangladesh can be reached by air from any part of the world.

Several international carriers fly to and from Dhaka. Biman, the national flag carrier, Bangladesh airlines connects Dhaka with 27 major cities of the world. Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Bangkok, Bombay, Calcutta, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, London, Muscat, Dhahran, Baghdad, Kuwait, Yangoon, Rome, Tripoli, Tokyo, Singapore, Bahrain, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Sarjah, Seoul, Riyadh and Delhi are the cities in this list.

RAIL:

The Bangladesh Railway connects important cities and places of interest such as Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Mymensingh, Bogra, Rajshahi, Dinajpuir starting from Dhaka. The inter-city Express Service is available to and from major cities at cheap fares.

Bangladesh Railway has a total of 4,341.48 route kilometers at the end of the year 2019-2020. East Zone has 2040.40 route kilometers of MG and 194.70 route kilometers of DG track only, and West Zone has 696.40 route kilometers of MG 1020.10 route kilometers of BG and 464.20 route kilometers of DG track. The total length of running track on double line, in the yards and sidings is 4,093.15 kilometers.

Bangladesh Railway had a total of 483 stations at the end of the year 2019-2020.

WATERWAYS:

The entire coast along the Bay of Bengal is 710 km long. There are two major ports in the country. Chittagong, the oldest port, has been an entry-port for at least 1,000 years. The Mongla port in Khulna region serves the western part of Bangladesh.

Dhaka-Chittagong River route is 280 km long in which the length from Dhaka to Munshiganj is 30 km and from Munshiganj to Chittagong is 250 km. According to BIWTA report 2016.

COMMUNICATIONS:

There are two major ports in the country. Chittagong, the oldest port, has been an entry-port for at least 1,000 years.

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Message from

Dr Ajay Sahai

Director General & CEO
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO)